Autumn Term 2024 

It has been all change for the governors at Whiteheath Junior this term. After more than 5 years as Chair of Governors we said farewell to Jim Edgecombe and thanked him for all he has done for the school. Jim has given many years of service as a governor to a number of schools in the borough and is now off to enjoy a well-earned retirement. We have also been joined by a new Governor, Tom McGee.

In October, governors enjoyed visiting school as part of a governor morning. This was an excellent opportunity for us to see the school in action. We visited nearly all the classes across the school, with some governors focusing on English lessons and some on maths lessons so that we could observe how the school approaches teaching these two core subjects. We were impressed by how engaged all the children were in their lessons and the different ways that teachers encourage children to share and discuss their ideas.

In governor meetings this term we have talked about a number of important issues for the school. These have included: hearing about the School Development Plan and what the school will be focusing on improving this year; discussing the school budget; and hearing how the school supports children with Special Educational Needs.

This term we have heard from three subject leads – maths, RE and computing – about how their subject is taught at Whiteheath, and their plans for the future. During the course of the year we will hear from all the subject leads which is a valuable way for us to understand how staff plan and deliver an interesting and up-to-date curriculum for all the different year groups.

Individual governors, who are responsible for understanding specific aspects of the school, have met with members of staff over the course of the term. This has included meetings to discuss maths, safeguarding, and SEND.

Governors have also been very fortunate to attend some fantastic school events this term. This has included: coming to the Y5 Harvest Festival performance, the Year 3 Christmas performance, and the Christmas service at St Martins Church. We’ve loved hearing lots of wonderful singing, acting and reading from the children and would like to thank all the staff for supporting the children to take part in these events and for their hard work throughout the term.

Spring Term 2025

For Governors a big focus of the Spring Term is on the school budget, making sure that everything is in order before the end of the financial year in April, and working closely with school leaders to think about how the budget should be allocated for the year ahead. There is a lot in the news about school funding at the moment, and times are challenging for all schools, but we are confident that Whiteheath Junior is in a stable financial position.

We have continued with our programme of hearing from subject leads. This term leaders for Spanish, DT, History, Writing and Reading all presented to Governors, talking through the elements they are focusing on for this year, how their subject is taught and assessed and what their next steps are to keep developing how children learn at Whiteheath. We were particularly encouraged to hear about all the opportunities that the children have to learn outside of the classroom through school trips, clubs, author visits, and special events at school.

Individual ‘Link governors’ have visited school during the term to meet with the relevant member of staff for their ‘link’ area. This term this has included visits focusing on writing in English, safeguarding and maths, as well as hearing more about what the school is doing to meet two of its school development priorities for this year which are:

• to engage with parents/carers about the curriculum, what is being taught in school and how they can support their child’s learning at home
• to give a greater emphasis on stretch and challenge in lessons

In addition, the safeguarding governor met with a group of children, from across all four school years, to hear from them directly about how the school supports them to feel safe in school. Although the discussion was on a serious topic, the governor thoroughly enjoyed meeting the children and was impressed by their confidence and willingness to share their views. The safeguarding governor was also present to support the school when an external assessor came to audit safeguarding practices and identify any actions the school could take to further improve its strong approach to safeguarding.

Governors are consistently impressed by the dedication of the staff at Whiteheath to ensuring that the school offers high standards of education, as well as a warm, welcoming and safe atmosphere for all children and their families.

Summer Term 2025

Review of parents’ survey

Towards the end of the summer term, we sent out a survey to parents to gather feedback on safeguarding at the school and to ask about awareness of what governors do and how we could help to keep you better informed. Thanks to all those who shared their views.

In response to what we heard, governors will now be sharing a write-up of each term’s activities in the school newsletter. So, a little late, here is our report on what we did in the summer term.

New governors

The summer term saw a new co-opted governor join us. Co-opted governors are volunteers who are interested in supporting schools in their local community, while gaining valuable experience of governance for themselves. We welcome Heena and look forward to working with her.

We also held parent governor elections during the term and are delighted that two new parent governors – David and Parus – have joined the governing body from September.

Budget, SATS results and School Development Plan (SDP)

Governors reviewed and approved the school’s year-end budget and a three-year financial plan. Despite ongoing funding challenges, the school is managing its resources responsibly and is preparing for future budget pressures, including changes to pupil numbers and government funding.

We also heard about the excellent SATS results and passed on our congratulations to the Year 6 team in particular, and to all the staff who put so much into supporting and inspiring the children throughout their time at Whiteheath.

We reviewed the SDP that has set the priorities for the school during the year 2024-25. It was pleasing to see the progress that has been made, particularly in strengthening communication between the school and parents, via parent workshops during the year, and in boosting attainment in maths and writing. We encourage all parents to take a look at this year’s SDP which is available on the school website under Key Information. It will give you an insight into the areas of school life that the school is particularly focused on for the year ahead.

Engaging with the school community

Subject leaders for PE, Art, Geography, Science, and PSHE gave presentations to governors, sharing how each subject is taught and assessed. Governors were impressed by the wide range of opportunities for children, including sports clubs, art days, science assemblies, and workshops that encourage learning beyond the classroom. The school continues to focus on high standards and creative approaches to teaching. Governors also received reports on safeguarding, writing assessments, and changes to SEN funding, and visited school to meet with staff to hear updates on maths, English and the SDP. We also enjoyed attending school events, including the Summer Fayre and Year 6 final performance.

Following the parent survey, we agreed with school leaders that the school would continue to promote awareness of the safeguarding contacts at school and the different channels available to report safeguarding concerns, by providing clear information at the end of every newsletter.

In the light of increasing challenges on multiple fronts, we would like to thank everyone associated with Whiteheath for their contribution over the academic year 2024-25 and look forward to working together to maintain the school’s high standards and happy community during 2025-26.

Ali Percy - Chair of Governors